FL13 - Page 105

Bottom Bait Rigs
L
ast time in All Things
Riggy I went into detail
about a rig that I use
with bottom baits. An
extremely efficient
hooking rig, but as with
any braided rig it can have a tendency
to tangle on the cast and thus be
extremely inefficient if the hooklink is
in a tangled pile. A major reason for a
tangle is using a light hookbait. If you
think about how your lead and rig
travels through the air on a cast, it will
give you a good insight into how to
overcome the problem.
The heaviest object will lead on a
cast, which invariably will be the lead,
unless you’re using an extremely light
lead. With the weight leading the
way, your rig will follow in its path
and thus be turning parallel with your
line/leader. This is where a soft hooklink can be too close to the line and
tangle around your mainline. The
thicker and smoother the leader
material the less likely the possibility
of a tangle, so this is the reason tubing
and leadcore leaders are used. However, tangles can still occasionally
occur and you cannot afford a rig to
tangle the day that big fish you’re
after feeds on your bait! By adding
weight to the hookbait the rig will not
run parallel with the leader, as the
force of the cast will be making the
heavier hookbait travel faster than a
small, light bait so it will be more like
45 degrees to the lead as opposed to
being directly behind the lead and
dangerously close to the leader.
So what do we use to achieve this
effect? A large boilie of say 20mmplus will have the weight to help alleviate tangles, as would double baits,
which I’ll look at a little later. My preferred choices would be the old fashioned stringer or a small PVA stick.
Both give much needed weight to the
hookbait, and the hook or hair can be
masked again helping to reduce the
possibility of tangles as well as
adding extra attraction to the hookbait. Both methods obviously require
some extra effort, especially if several
casts are required to land on the chosen spot, but extra effort normally
leads to extra rewards, so I feel it’s
more than worth it to have my rig
fishing to its optimum for me.
Since the popularity of PVA bags
and stocking, the stringer is a method
seriously under-employed, and when
boilie fishing especially over a scatter-
(Top) Yateley’s Dropscale at 34lb 9oz
to a bottom bait stiff rig.
(Below) Double baits with
separation.
(Right) A stringer or bag of crumb
might be all you need at this time of
year.
FREE LINE 105

FL13 - Page 105

Bottom Bait Rigs
L
ast time in All Things
Riggy I went into detail
about a rig that I use
with bottom baits. An
extremely efficient
hooking rig, but as with
any braided rig it can have a tendency
to tangle on the cast and thus be
extremely inefficient if the hooklink is
in a tangled pile. A major reason for a
tangle is using a light hookbait. If you
think about how your lead and rig
travels through the air on a cast, it will
give you a good insight into how to
overcome the problem.
The heaviest object will lead on a
cast, which invariably will be the lead,
unless you’re using an extremely light
lead. With the weight leading the
way, your rig will follow in its path
and thus be turning parallel with your
line/leader. This is where a soft hooklink can be too close to the line and
tangle around your mainline. The
thicker and smoother the leader
material the less likely the possibility
of a tangle, so this is the reason tubing
and leadcore leaders are used. However, tangles can still occasionally
occur and you cannot afford a rig to
tangle the day that big fish you’re
after feeds on your bait! By adding
weight to the hookbait the rig will not
run parallel with the leader, as the
force of the cast will be making the
heavier hookbait travel faster than a
small, light bait so it will be more like
45 degrees to the lead as opposed to
being directly behind the lead and
dangerously close to the leader.
So what do we use to achieve this
effect? A large boilie of say 20mmplus will have the weight to help alleviate tangles, as would double baits,
which I’ll look at a little later. My preferred choices would be the old fashioned stringer or a small PVA stick.
Both give much needed weight to the
hookbait, and the hook or hair can be
masked again helping to reduce the
possibility of tangles as well as
adding extra attraction to the hookbait. Both methods obviously require
some extra effort, especially if several
casts are required to land on the chosen spot, but extra effort normally
leads to extra rewards, so I feel it’s
more than worth it to have my rig
fishing to its optimum for me.
Since the popularity of PVA bags
and stocking, the stringer is a method
seriously under-employed, and when
boilie fishing especially over a scatter-
(Top) Yateley’s Dropscale at 34lb 9oz
to a bottom bait stiff rig.
(Below) Double baits with
separation.
(Right) A stringer or bag of crumb
might be all you need at this time of
year.
FREE LINE 105